Streak goes on for banged-up Young

Rangers shortstop has now hit in 22 straight games

Despite a broken left ring finger, Michael Young extending his hitting streak to 22 games.

The Rangers star singled to tie Jim Sundberg's 1978 hitting streak, the fourth-longest in club history. Young already owns the second longest streak in team history, 25 games in 2005. The team record is 28 games, set by Gabe Kapler in 2000.

On top of the broken finger, Young had to leave Saturday's game in the seventh inning due to tightness in his left groin. Manager Ron Washington, however, wasn't concerned about Young, who did not play Sunday in Texas' 6-3 win over Tampa Bay so that he could have two days' rest before the Rangers' series against Kansas City begins on Tuesday.

"I have no concerns -- right now," Washington told The Dallas Morning News. "As long as he can handle the pain that goes with it, he can play. If anybody can pull it off, Michael can."

Byrd notches 100th career victory: Paul Byrd worked seven innings and gave up just two runs on four hits against the Tigers on Friday night to get his 100th career victory.

"Greg Maddux didn't feel any heat from this," Byrd told the Akron Beacon Journal. "But for me, it's a big deal. I love playing Major League baseball. It's something I always wanted to do since I was a kid. I spent part of the time as a reliever, got released several times and got claimed on waivers, so this is nice for me."

Ethier continues to see average rise: Andre Ethier has become hot with more regular playing time. Despite an 0-for-3 on Sunday, he's hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games, and his average was .294 going into the Dodgers' series in San Diego this week.

"The circumstances are unfortunate," Ethier told the Los Angeles Times. "We'd like for this team to be whole and have all of our weapons. But it's a situation where I'm getting the at-bats and I'm just going out there trying to prove that I can handle it and perform."

Prior makes clubhouse appearance following surgery: Mark Prior visited the San Diego clubhouse this weekend, days after having surgery to repair a tear in the anterior capsule of his right shoulder. The surgery ended the season for Prior.

"I don't think anybody will really have a true explanation," Prior told The San Diego Union-Tribune about his latest setback. "Hopefully it's fixed and I won't have to worry about it and can just move on."

Bullpen has Zito's back in second win: Three relievers combined for four shutout innings to preserve Barry Zito's second win of the season on Sunday. The bullpen was happy to notch a save for the hard-working veteran.

"'Z' has worked so hard to make the strides he's made -- you feel good keeping his win intact," reliever Jack Taschner, who retired all six of the batters he faced, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "All anybody looks at is all the games he's lost, the million-dollar guy. On the pregame show, they're talking about his questionable approach. Are you serious? For a guy who's done it as long as he has and works his tail off? For a guy who's taken the abuse he's taken?

"He comes in every day and does his work, trying to change things up. People will say he should, because he's making all that money. But it's hard when the fans, even San Francisco fans, are riding him all the time. As a teammate, when you see a guy do that [work], it feels good to leave his game intact, because when he goes out there and gets a no-decision, it doesn't help him one bit."

This time, Guthrie gets deluge of runs: Jeremy Guthrie received his best run support of the season on Saturday when the Orioles jumped on the Blue Jays for eight early runs.

"I have fun going out there, and I don't think about not having run support or feeling snake-bitten in any way," Guthrie told The Baltimore Sun. "It never crosses my mind, and so there's no joking about it. Just go out every five days and hopefully pitch well enough to win."

Bonderman takes positive outlook on returning: For Jeremy Bonderman, who is likely going to be out for the remainder of the season, the news could have been much worse. He spent Friday night in intensive care at Detroit Medical Center after a blood clot was discovered in his axillary vein.

"It's something I know I can come back from," Bonderman told the Detroit Free Press. "It's not like they're rebuilding something. They're just trying to make it better. I look at it as an opportunity to get it right. If I miss the rest of the year and come back, I'll have a fresh arm."

Theriot among batting leaders: Ryan Theriot says it's far too early in the season to even consider a batting title.

"I don't look at it," Theriot, who is batting .323 for the season, told MLB.com. "I'm not going to lie -- I know I'm up there. It's still early and a lot can happen in a few days. I don't think you buy into it too much until you have a ton of at-bats."

Konerko's rare treble leaves him gassed: Paul Konerko hit the sixth triple of his 12-year career on Saturday night.

"It was literally just a base hit to center field, and the wind was blowing out," Konerko told MLB.com. "And it just kind of took a left turn and the outfielder had no chance. After it got by him, I knew it would be a double. I don't know what happened -- I was just all of a sudden sliding into third and I was safe. It took me about three innings to recover."

Springer thriving as milestone of sorts nears: Russ Springer, who will turn 40 this November, is in his 16th season in the Major Leagues. Still a successful and key reliever for the Cardinals, Springer concedes he never really considered playing this long.

"I never thought that far down the line," Springer told MLB.com. "The years added up. Obviously, you don't anticipate pitching this far, especially when you go through the injuries I did early in my career. I was motivated to get over those injuries and try to make a living for my family. The next thing I know, I look up and I'm still playing and still playing. Most of my [former] teammates are coaching first base. I've been lucky. I've played with a lot of different teams and, [during] the second half of my career, gone to the playoffs most of the time."

Lyon pushes scoreless streak to 22 innings in a row: Brandon Lyon, who had waited 22 days between save opportunities, recorded consecutive saves Friday and Saturday.

The two performances extended his scoreless-inning streak to 22 innings, according to The Arizona Republic.

His last run allowed came on April 6 when Matt Holliday hit a solo home run, leading to a blown save for Lyon. Since then, he is a perfect 13-for-13 in save chances.

Weeks gets a rest after making play at second: Rickie Weeks was out of the starting lineup on Sunday, one day after being taken out at second base by Colorado's Jeff Baker while Baker was trying to break up a double play.

Tucker earns a win in Major League debut: Rookie Ryan Tucker allowed just two hits in five innings in his Major League debut against Cincinnati on Sunday to become the seventh player in Marlins history to record a win in his first start.

"The whole game was trying to get through the walks," Tucker told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Just wanted to get through that and try to make pitches that would adhere to the situation."

Tucker reached 95 mph with his fastball in the first inning and regularly hit 92-93 with his heater.